Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review - Pirates left fielder Starling Marte steals second base next to the Giants' Brandon Crawford during the third inning Monday, May 5, 2014, at PNC Park.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review - Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez celebrates his three-run homer with Andrew McCutchen during the third inning against the Giants Monday, May 5, 2014, at PNC Park.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review - Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke delivers to the plate during the second inning against the Giants Monday, May 5, 2014, at PNC Park.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review - Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez celebrates his three-run homer with Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen during the third inning against the Giants Monday, May 5, 2014, at PNC Park.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review - The Pirates' Jose Tabata drives in a run with an infield single during the seventh inning against the Giants Monday, May 5, 2014, at PNC Park.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review - Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke delivers to the plate during the first inning against the San Franciscon Giants on Monday, May 5, 2014, at PNC Park.

Pirates podcasts

Traveling by Jeep, boat and foot, Tribune-Review investigative reporter Carl Prine and photojournalist Justin Merriman covered nearly 2,000 miles over two months along the border with Mexico to report on coyotes — the human traffickers who bring illegal immigrants into the United States. Most are Americans working for money and/or drugs. This series reports how their operations have a major impact on life for residents and the environment along the border — and beyond.

“Just threw it down,” Hughes said. “If I make a good throw, he's out. Of course, if I don't hit a guy and walk a guy, we're not in that situation in the first place.”

Hughes had to hurry his throw because Machi hustled down the line.

“What a great bunt,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He made it look easy. I think it put pressure on them.”

The game lasted five hours, 29 minutes The announced crowd of 13,675 had dwindled to a few hundred by the final inning.

“What a game,” Bochy said. “It looked like we were dead in the water. It's one of the grittiest ones I've been involved with with this group.”

The Pirates led 8-2 after five innings and 9-7 after six, but could not hold down the Giants. Starter Jeff Locke allowed six runs and the bullpen yielded five.

“It got down to our location,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We were up in the zone more than we normally are.”

Ike Davis scored on Jose Tabata's infield single to put the Pirates up, 10-9, in the seventh. However, Mark Melancon blew the save by serving up Buster Posey's RBI single in the ninth.

It was the Pirates' eighth blown save of the year, which ties them with Colorado for most in the National League. The Pirates blew 15 saves all of last season.

Locke was called up to make his season debut with the Pirates in place of left-hander Wandy Rodriguez, who's out with a sore right knee.

“It's the most comfortable I've felt all season,” Locke said. “I took it the same way I normally would: came in, went over hitters the same way I normally would.”

Locke began the season on the disabled list with a strained oblique. In four starts for Triple-A Indianapolis, he went 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP

To clear a roster spot for Locke, rookie pitcher Casey Sadler was sent back to Indianapolis.

Locke got off to a bumpy start. Four of the six batters who faced him in the first inning reached base, as the Giants took a 2-0 lead.

With a little unintentional help from the umpire, the Pirates took a 4-2 lead in the third.

The Pirates had runners on first and second with one out. With a 3-0 count against Pedro Alvarez, Giants right-hander Yusmeiro Petit threw a fastball that crossed the plate at ankle level.

Anticipating a walk, Alvarez took a step toward first base. Umpire Phil Cuzzi rung up a strike.

Given a second chance to record the out, Petit came back with another 89 mph four-seamer. This one was actually in the strike zone, which gave Alvarez an opportunity to do what he does best.

He launched it beyond the center field wall into the visitor's bullpen.

The Pirates knocked Petit out of the game and tacked on four runs in the fifth inning.

Andrew McCutchen doubled with one out, then scored on Alvarez's looping single. Marte doubled. Ike Davis was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Jake Dunning, who was brought up before the game to replace Matt Cain (finger injury), replaced Petit and threw a wild pitch that scored Alvarez. After Tony Sanchez walked, another wild pitch scored Marte. Davis scored on Clint Barmes' sacrifice fly.

Locke retired 13 straight batters until the sixth, when Pagan led off with a single. Five batters later, Locke was out of the game and reliever Bryan Morris was trying furiously to quash a rally. The Giants scored five runs on six hits, five of them singles.

Neil Walker's RBI grounder in the bottom of the inning gave the Pirates a 9-7 edge.

The Giants tied it with two runs in the seventh. It could have been worse. Pablo Sandoval grounded into a double play to get Watson out of a first-and-third, one-out jam.

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Total Promotional Solutions

A division of Trib Total Media is your one-stop-shop for all of your branded merchandise needs.

We specialize in providing quality affordable promotional products for every type of business including non-profits, schools, universities, sports teams and more. With 1000’s of products to choose from, our knowledgeable staff can help you find the perfect apparel item or product to suit your needs and budget.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.